Vigo County Historical Society
Historical Treasure Article
Historic Treasure of the Week -
February 3, 2002
By Shawn M. Rogers
Vigo County Historical Society
One-room schoolhouse important to history
In our present age of laptop computers, television, indoor plumbing and central heating, it may be difficult for many to full appreciate the challenges, struggles and overall rewarding experiences that characterized the one-room schoolhouse of yesteryear.
A typical winter day in a one-room school was marked by the never-ending struggle to keep warm. A coal or wood-burning cast iron stove was employed to warm the student body. It would take at least three to four hours to sufficiently heat up an average schoolhouse of the 19th century. The teacher would arrive no later than 7 a.m. in order to “fire up” the stove and shovel paths to the all-important woodshed and privy.
By 9 a.m., a typical class would have already had a morning prayer, read aloud from the Bible and recited the “Pledge of Allegiance” or “American Creed.”
From 9 a.m. until 10:30 a.m., first- and second-graders would have likely studied their numbers while grades three through eight executed basic arithmetic problems. Most of this diligent work would have been performed upon the “blackboards” surrounding the room, or upon slates at their desks. Slates were used for most desk work due to the relative scarcity and high cost of paper in the early to mid-19th century.
At 10:30 a.m., the teacher rang her handbell to signal the beginning of recess. Weather permitting, the students might wonder outside to play games such a “geese” or “tag.” On days of particularly inclement weather, a number of the students may have decided to stay inside to play “jacks” or shoot “ringers” with their marbles for “funsies” or “keepsies.”
Recess was also a good time for helpful students to fetch a bucket of water and bring in coal or wood.
Spelling, geography and writing were studies and practiced around 10:45 a.m. until noon. Reading and English lessons were given for each grade from 1 until 2:30 p.m. McGuffey and Osgood readers were typically used to such instruction from the mid 19th to early 20th centuries. Books and texts were valued commodities; few were allowed to be taken home by students for fear of loss or damage (especially on the walk home).
The one-room schoolhouse was not unlike a family. Every student was expected to help his or her fellow classmates. If a student had a problem with a particular lesson, his or her fellow classmates were expected to do what they could to help. Students were also expected to help clean and maintain the school (i.e. bring in firewood, water etc.). I think a former one-room schoolteacher summed it up best, “There was a lot of cooperation and care for one another.”
The one-room schoolhouse, as an institution, is very important to our national and local history. It helped provide generations of young men and women with a basic education and strong values, which allowed them to become productive, upstanding citizens who would someday shape the very course of history itself.
I encourage you to visit the schoolroom located upstairs at the Vigo County Historical Museum. It contains several of the items mentioned above, and offers an excellent representation of what a one-room schoolhouse was like in the 19th century.
The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley, 1411 S. Sixth St., is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. The Web site: http://indstate.edu/community/vchs.